Things to Do in North Highlands

ReCREATE's approach to conservation unleashes the inner outsider artist in all who enter the center's cheery, well-organized studio. The guerrilla-crafting cooperative rescues unwanted office supplies, retail detritus, and industrial byproducts from a destiny of landfill lining, in the process building a vast repository of reusable craft materials. Drop-in sessions ($5 each) allow developing da Vincis to create milk-jug masks and packing-foam puppets to their hearts' content. Conservational crafters purchase bulk supplies from the studio's bins of cast-off designer-fabric samples, cigar boxes, paper, tile chips, cardboard, and more, while reCREATE supplies scissors, glue, and any other necessary equipment. Amateur artists of all ages can spontaneously generate boats, figurines, and dioramas in-studio, or shop for materials to build a man-sized version of Mouse Trap at home.

Sea Otter Swim Lessons employs a team of first-aid- and CPR-certified instructors who welcome everyone into the water to learn how to swim. People cruise up and over the learning curve inside a 92-degree natural salt-chlorine pool, fully enclosed to allow lessons during the colder months and to keep rain from getting swimmers wet. Class sizes are kept small to allow for focused attention and individual improvement—private sessions are one-on-one, semiprivate sessions are one instructor with two students, and parent/tot classes are one instructor with up to six parents and children. Outside of the water, parents can watch their youngsters from a large observation area and tuckered-out swimmers can make use of the two shower areas and several changing rooms.

After witnessing 3-year-old Kathy Pead’s connection to the ponies at a roadside amusement park, the park's owner recommended that Kathy's father enroll her in riding lessons even before the minimum age of 7. Since owning her first horse at the age of 15, Kathy has worked tirelessly to share her enthusiasm for the animals, teaching hands-on lessons and slowly building up her business. After stints in England and Australia, she's settled in the Sacramento area, where her stables sprawl across 2.5 acres that include two well-maintained arenas. She and her staff—which includes her daughter, Jenny—prioritize safety and fun as they teach students how to read a horse's body language and hear the sentences it mumbles in German between whinnies.

Stadium lights reflect off of the pavement. Engines roar as cars whip around curves and weave in and out, jockeying for pole position just as they cross the finish line. This racing scene is a familiar one at All American Speedway, which has witnessed many of the stock-car world's best drivers take to its paved stage. Their yearly schedule stretches from March until October as spectators young and old watch street-stock cars, modifieds, late models, vintage cars, and even vintage penny farthings circle the high-banked oval track.

The instructors at WakeSUP arm guests with Surftech paddleboards and adjustable SUP paddles and lead expeditions across serene waterways including Folsom Lake, Nimbus Lake, and Lake Natoma. To help guests glide safely across water surfaces, they also hand out neoprene lifejackets from Ho Sports and O’Neill to keep paddlers from being lured beneath the surface by a sea monster’s siren song. All rental gear and boards—which range in size from 9.5 to 12 feet—will be transported to and from the waterway courtesy of WakeSUP.

Air rushes past you at 120 miles per hour while the California countryside unfolds thousands of feet below. Blue sky and empty space surround you, and the voice of your U.S. Parachute Association–rated instructor is the only sound you can hear above the wind. At 4,500 feet, the instructor pulls the parachute cord, and the two of you gently drift down to land in 32 acres of open, unobstructed grass. This is what divers experience during tandem skydives or jumps as a part of the Accelerated Freefall program at Skydive Sacramento.

Pilots at the helm of a 15-passenger King Air twin turbine, a four-passenger Cessna 182, or a five-passenger Cessna 206 take students to altitudes of up to 13,000 in as few as 15 minutes. Fitted securely with harnesses and chutes, participants can ask their diving instructor questions about the sport before plunging from the plane in a hands-on free fall and canopy flight, during which they learn steering and hot-air-balloon-avoidance tactics. Though the instructors cater to first-time divers, they also coach more experienced students toward their skydiving license. Instructors, many with 2,000 dives under their belt, also teach students to land in a main grass landing area or a high-performance area with swoop pond.